Modell's Sporting Goods will open a 2,500-square-foot
store at the MCI Center when the arena opens December 2.
The store will feature an information kiosk, satellite feeds
of sporting events, and a "visitor's locker room section,"
which will feature merchandise of the Wizards' or Capitals'
opponent each night (Modell's Sporting Goods).
MORE ON MCI: In DC, Pat Lopes examines other businesses
at the MCI Center. The Velocity Grill is a 500-seat,
20,000-square-foot restaurant and bar, with an 800-square-
foot glass floor over the Wizards' practice courts. MCI
will also open its first store in a sports arena. The
"other major retail tenant" is the Discovery Channel Store,
which is slated to open February 14 (WASHINGTON BUSINESS
JOURNAL, 10/31 issue)....Abe Pollin is interviewed by Ken
Adelman in WASHINGTONIAN magazine. Pollin, on Washington as
a sports city: "I find it maddening to see guys who have
lived here 20 years rooting for their former home teams"
(WASHINGTONIAN, 11/97 issue)....After Pollin's teams move to
the MCI Center in December, the MD-based Cordish Co. will
"begin converting" US Airways Arena into an amateur sports
facility "ringed by movie theaters, restaurants and
entertainment-oriented stores," according to Maryann
Haggerty of the WASHINGTON POST. Cordish President David
Cordish said that construction is scheduled to begin in
December or January, and the first phases of the project
"should be open" by late 1998. Cordish's firm is will
partner with Pollin on the project. Pollin owns the arena
and leases the surrounding land (WASHINGTON POST, 11/7).
